


Reining It In

by SirLadySketch



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/M, Gen, Inquisition is disbanded, Post-Canon, Post-Trespasser
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-28
Updated: 2016-05-28
Packaged: 2018-07-10 16:35:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6996013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SirLadySketch/pseuds/SirLadySketch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the events of Trespasser, the Inquisition is disbanded. Now, Remli Lavellan must begin the job of dismantling the organization she and her friends spent so much time growing.</p><p>It began with the horses.</p><p>Romanced Solas (I will go down with this ship), Chose to save him, Disbanded the Inquisition</p>
            </blockquote>





	Reining It In

It began with the horses.

Disbanding the Inquisition seemed like the obvious choice when push came to shove-- it got the Orlesians and Fereldens off her back, and working with a smaller group of people would make it easier to react-- no more waiting for this general to tell that captain to tell those troops to move there. There were also those who thought that it would be harder for Solas to infiltrate their ranks, although she wasn’t sure of that. He didn’t need someone physically in the castle if he could walk into their dreams and find the information he sought. She pushed that thought aside.

They’d treat it like a clan preparing to move on to a different site. You never realized all of the knickknacks and silly habits you’d slipped into until it was time to leave and you had to evaluate which things would actually fit within the aravel. They were keeping the castle-- Solas said they could, and she’d be damned if she’d leave the place free for anyone else to take. Better they remain than another upstart swoop in and claim it for their own.

And so, she began the disbandment of the Inquisition not by giving speeches, but by giving out horses.

For some reason, it was easier to let them go first, and they took up a majority of the stalls in the stables. She was fond of the creatures, but they were difficult to ride with only one arm. During her tenure as Inquisitor she’d purchased many of the finest examples that Thedosian breeds could offer. In part, it was her way of keeping up the image of power and wealth that didn’t involve facing more verbal warfare in Orlais. Mostly it was to humor Dennet, who paraded the beasts about with such flare and pride that she could not say no when a new requisition request landed on her desk.

She offered them all to him at first-- with no Inquisition to serve, he was free to return home, and his lands could support the entire stock and then some. Plus he’d spoken of breeding them to produce stronger bloodlines, and she’d gladly have given him whatever he needed to make that dream a reality. He’d refused, of course, insisting that some of the horses went to help the those who had served the Inquisition as well-- favored agents, retiring soldiers, helpful staff-- really, she had enough horses to give one to almost anyone, at least among those who held some rank within the organization. She left the distribution up to her stablemaster-- he would know who could provide the animals with the best care.

The dracolisks were, well, a bit trickier. Few understood their charm, and fewer still were willing to put up with the antics of a carnivorous mount. Cullen and his men flat-out refused to go near them, and it would be impossible to release them back in the wild, now that they’d spent the better part of three years getting pampered. Josie had briefly recommended sending them to the Avvar as a token of good will-- who else would appreciate creatures with such noble spirits?-- but the creatures would fare poorly in the chill air, and Remli doubted that Storvacker would appreciate the company. 

Given that some of her mounts were known to breathe fire from time to time, it would also take a steady hand and a competent head to keep them in check. Fortunately, Bull and his men had both, and so the dracolisks became official Chargers, complete with celebratory party in the tavern. Cabot was not amused.

The exotics departed soon after. Remli had never really been comfortable sitting astride a giant nug, mostly because Leliana had gone to great lengths to inform her of a nug’s intelligence and bravery. The Inquisitor always got the feeling that the things were silently judging her-- much like Leliana, come to think of it-- and so it was with great relief that she sent the lot of them off to serve as the holy mounts of the new Divine. No doubt they would find the fountains of Orlais the perfect place to wallow as they looked down their noses at those who passed. They would fit right in with the Orlesian nobles.

Dorian got Fluffy. Who else but a necromancer would appreciate an undead unicorn? The mage was touched, if a little wary of the rotting flesh getting his clothes dirty.

That left her with her harts.

She kept her harts because they were easier to control with her knees, and of all the mounts the Inquisition had collected, they seemed to best recognize and respond to her unspoken signals. She knew that people would claim it was her Dalish heritage that made her keep them. That she filled her stables with deer when she could not find halla willing to stay. That she was a fool clinging to the desperate ties to her past so that she did not have to face her future. 

The truth was that she did give them away-- but they kept finding their way back home. She’d meant to keep Smudge, the Hart they’d bought during their time in the Frostbacks. Deshanna’s gifted hart stayed as well-- how could one face her Keeper and tell her that she’d regifted the gift, even if it was to a good cause? She’d even planned on keeping Arl, the hart formerly known as Solas since it was “The Pride of Arlathan.” She didn’t care for him as much as Smudge, but she’d keep him on, mostly just to spite Solas (Arl had been the mage’s mount.)

The others she’d given away. Two went with Dalish clans who briefly sheltered at Skyhold, and another went to the Sentinels to help them on their way (probably off to help Solas, although she refused to think about that). She’d slowly but surely emptied her stables until only her three harts remained, the other stalls taken up by her remaining agent’s mounts and extra supplies.

But as the weeks passed, one by one the animals returned. Some were caught in the woods outside the keep, while others were spotted making their way up the road towards remembered beds and warm blankets. Bruiser, the wild hart named by Sera, had just shown up in his old stall one day, much to the chagrin of Harding’s Avvar pony, the stall’s new occupant. Remli welcomed them back with quiet pats on the necks and long evenings currying out burls and mud, even as her agents scurried around to make adjustments to supply caches. 

The Inquisition was gone. The new clan she’d formed had dispersed as her friends left to make their way in the world. By the time they were done dismantling everything to thwart Solas (and anyone else who got in her way in her attempt to save him), there were fewer than 100 people in Skyhold. The fortress drifted back into sleep as entire wings were boarded up and abandoned once again.

With such a reduced workforce and limited supplies, it would be difficult to keep all of the harts in addition to the remaining mounts. Some of her remaining agents would willingly switch steeds, and the beasts could manage almost any terrain, so they could earn their keep. It would still be a stretch to keep them in the stables, but if they were inclined to stay nearby, maybe they could be let out to graze and only take shelter inside if the weather grew too fierce. 

The road ahead would be difficult, the future uncertain. She didn’t know whom she could trust, or where they would have to go. She didn’t know what she needed to do to help Solas, and didn’t know if she could. Corphyeus had been defeated with the aid of her friends and followers-- how could she hope to gain a similar following when her new cause was to save the man who wanted to destroy the world?

She’d face those worries as she always did-- with as much planning as possible, but also with the knowledge that the best laid plans usually fell through. There was much to do and few resources at her disposal to accomplish it all, but somehow, she had to keep faith that she would find a way. For now, it was small gifts of carrots and apple slices between meetings and war counsels. Quiet walks in the evenings, wandering the woods with only her harts trailing behind her. She could send them away again and again, but these members of the Inquisition would not be abandoned. As for the others, well...

What was it Solas had said, all those years ago? She’d done what she could-- now, she must endure.

**Author's Note:**

> ... can you tell I'm starting to lose ideas for titles? XD


End file.
